This term our topic is Aiming High, and we will specifically be learning about mountains. We will begin by looking at David Hill’s enthralling retelling of the ascent of Everest, First to the Top. This book provides the initial stimulus for our English work, but this is just the start of our own journey to the top!
Maths
Throughout all our maths lessons we work through a variety of differing fluency, reasoning and problem-solving tasks. During the autumn term we focus predominately on place value, statistics and multiplication and division. We also start each lesson with a PSP (Problem Solving Pineapple) task and embed our learning with our very own Reasoning Raspberry.
Reading
We read a wide range of texts in our whole class reading lessons, many of them linked to our curriculum. These include narratives and informal/formal letters linked to Eco Awareness and monologues, letters and adverts which focus on persuasive texts. We also use pictures and videos to help embed our inference learning, alongside VIPERS (Vocabulary, Infer, Predict Retrieve, Summarise).
Writing
During this term we will use the texts First to the Top (David Hill), The Snow Leopard (Jackie Morris) and Can We Save the Tiger? (Martin Jenkins) as a basis for our writing. We start with recounts of the ascent of Mount Everest, continue with biographies of with Sir Edmund Hillary or Tenzing Norgay and finish with newspaper reports about the 29th May 1953. We then move on to look at descriptive writing based on The Snow Leopard and persuasive writing using Can We Save the Tiger as a stimulus.
Science
Our science during the Autumn term focuses on materials. Linking our science to our English texts, we compare the properties of materials, give reasons for their uses and investigate thermal conductors and insulators. After half term, we perform experiments to determine which materials dissolve and how we can separate mixtures and solutions. We finish with investigating reversible/irreversible changes and the highly anticipated marshmallow experiment.
P.E.
Year 5 loves their indoor athletics and thoroughly enjoy practising all the events. We also learn lots of transferable skills in invasion games and really get into our dance sessions. As a year group we also take part in our daily mile runs and enjoy Jumpstart Jonny.
Geography
As you have probably realised, we are studying mountains in Year 5 during the Autumn term. We hone our geographical skills by locating major mountain ranges on a map and describing the key features of ranges. We also look at how mountains are formed before moving on to compare different mountain ranges. Finally, we learn about lines of latitude and longitude and combine our DT skills with our knowledge of contour lines by creating 3D models of mountains.
Art
In art we explore how different artists (Monet, Hockney, Gainsborough and O’Keefe) have interpreted landscapes. We also develop our sketching techniques, based on our Snow Leopard work, in particular the use of tone. The term concludes with learning about the different types of watercolour washes as part of our Seasons Calendar.
Computing
During the Autumn Term, we look at coding and use spheroes to create programs and understand algorithms. We also look at E-safety and reinforce the message behind S.M.A.R.T (Safe, Meet, Accepting, Reliable, Tell).
R.E and P.S.H.E
We look at a number of religions in our RE lessons including Sikhism and Christianity. We use enquiry based learning and look at significant questions such as the importance of the 5 K’s and What is Christmas? In P.S.H.E we follow the Jigsaw program looking at “Being me in my world” and “Celebrating Difference”. We have also been looking at a number of areas related to anti-bullying week and how we are all different.
MFL
We continue to improve our listening, writing, speaking and reading in French in Year 5, building on knowledge from previous years.
This half term we will be exploring Ancient Greece! Basing much of our learning on the story of Odysseus, we will be journeying across the Greek world. Our writing will build up towards an exciting police report into Odysseus’ mysterious disappearance from his home of Ithaca. In science, we will be looking at various forces (such as air resistance and gravity).
In our DT learning we will be designing, building and evaluating our own moving mechanisms. These will include levers and linkages.
To finish our topic, we will be having our own fantastic Greek Day – including food, art and history!
For the second part of the Spring Term we will be blasting off into space! Using the book “The Planet Gods”, we will be exploring the solar system and beyond. We will be researching and writing our own fact pages about our space learning. As we move towards Easter, we will begin to learn about the events of Holy Week and its importance to Christians across the world.
The nature of storytelling/Romans: Empire Strikes Back
For our final term we will be delving into the world of storytelling. Using “The Lost Happy Endings” by Carol Ann Duffy, we will develop our descriptive writing. In Science we will explore lifecycles of plants and animals, which will lead into our exciting trip to Wakehurst Place. As the term progresses, our focus will move onto non-fiction narratives.
In PSHE this term, our two jigsaw pieces will be “Relationships” and “Changing Me”. This will include work on friendships, health and hygiene, puberty, mental health and growing up.
The expectation is that each week, children will complete tasks related to spellings, times tables and reading. There will also be either a grammar or maths task to be completed.
Naming clothes
Please ensure all your child’s clothes and belongings are clearly labelled.
Please include water bottles, PE kit and lunch boxes.
PE kit should be in school every day.
Year 5 residential: Bowles 2019
More details to follow.
Planning, preparation and assessment time
The weekly planning preparation and assessment time will occur on Thursday afternoons when the children will be taught by Ms Billson, Mrs Lister and Mrs Anderson.
School trips
Autumn - Bowles Residential
Spring - Hands on History workshop (Ancient Greeks) and Mobile Planetarium
Summer - Wakehurst Place
Health and hygiene
In the summer term we deliver the Health and Hygiene aspects of our Sex Education Policy (RSE) which complements our science work on life cycles of animals, plants and humans. The children have the opportunity to handle hygiene products such as flannels, soap and deodorant.
How can I support my child?
Regular reading and discussion with your child about their chosen reading book is still very valuable. Encourage them to explain why they chose the book, what do they think will happen next? Can they recall what has happened so far or make predictions? Supporting your child with the learning of their weekly spelling and mastery of the multiplication tables is also a valuable skill.
